A View from the Heitz

Especially during holidays most of us take time for reflection.  I was listening to a discussion on NPR this week debunking the fact that suicides and depression are supposedly higher during the holidays.  I guess this is just an “old wives tale.”  None the less, I have been thinking a lot about forgiveness lately.  Not the typical discussion of forgiveness where we confess our sins to each other and to God in true repentance, but rather what do you do if some really wrongs you?

It’s easy to say we forgive, but from the heart?  Most Christians think that forgiveness is a blank slate like emptying the trash on the computer: all gone and all over.  Others think that forgiveness must flow from love.  Others would point to the old language of the Lord’s Prayer: “forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors.”  What happens when a debt is paid in full?  Does that person qualify for more credit?

I’ve been thinking that it’s easy to forgive when you can rationalize it: oh they didn’t really mean to do that or under the circumstances I can understand.  But what if you just can’t understand?  And here I think we begin to get to the heart of God.  I wonder just how God can understand when I constantly come back to him and ask for forgiveness.  So in a sense my exploration of forgiveness is really a way of getting in touch with God’s heart.

Starting out my exploration I went to an old sermon handout from Pastor Pautz’ July 21, 2002 message titled “Forgive One Another.”  The handout defined forgiveness:

1. It isn’t conditional.
2. It isn’t minimizing the seriousness of the offense.
3. It isn’t a fully restoring a relationship without changes.
4. It isn’t forgetting what happened.
5. It IS relinquishing all rights to get even (Rom 12:19).
6. It IS responding to evil with good (Luke 6:27-28).

Numbers three and four have me a bit puzzled.  The rest I agree with.  I am trying to work through the emotional and heart connection that practically comes from not restoring and forgetting.  How does this prevent bitterness and grudges?  I do understand that you don’t put an alcoholic in a bar during the first week of AAA but is that what God does with us?

This entry was posted on Sunday, December 28th, 2008 at 5:57 pm and is filed under Faith, Personal.